Man who disappeared in Incheon hole found dead next day
Published: 07 Jul. 2025, 15:29
Updated: 07 Jul. 2025, 18:44
![The rescue team from the Gyeyang Fire Station inserts an endoscopic camera into a manhole on a road in Gyeyang District, Incheon, on July 6 to search for a worker who went missing inside. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/07/07/bb19dc51-482b-4fd4-afa5-49a939aa35b5.jpg)
The rescue team from the Gyeyang Fire Station inserts an endoscopic camera into a manhole on a road in Gyeyang District, Incheon, on July 6 to search for a worker who went missing inside. [YONHAP]
A man who went missing while inspecting underground wastewater pipelines in Incheon was found dead on Monday.
Search crews discovered body of the 52-year-old, an employee of a wastewater inspection company, at the Gulpo Sewage Treatment Plant, according to the Incheon Fire Department.
The plant connects to the pipeline where he had gone missing the previous day.
Emergency responders were dispatched to a road in Gyeyang District, Incheon, at 9:22 a.m. on Sunday after receiving a report that “two people had collapsed inside a maintenance hole.”
Rescue workers pulled one person out of the maintenance hole about 20 minutes later.
That individual, a 48-year-old who owns the same wastewater inspection company, showed no vital signs.
Medics performed CPR at the scene before transporting the person to a hospital.
The missing worker, who had entered the maintenance hole with the company owner to inspect the wastewater system, remained unaccounted for until his body was recovered Monday morning.
Authorities confirmed that the company was subcontracted to conduct part of a geographic information system database project for wastewater pipelines ordered by the Incheon Environmental Corporation.
Police and fire officials suspect hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide inside the pipeline caused the workers to lose consciousness.
Investigators plan to determine the exact cause of the incident and are focusing on the presence of toxic gases.
They believe the owner entered the maintenance hole in an attempt to rescue the missing worker after realizing he had collapsed and was unable to climb out.
Police plan to request an autopsy from the National Forensic Service to determine the exact cause of death.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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